A Kika foi embora... [*]

... Foi juntar-se 'a Tia!

Deixou-me este 'ultimo adeus' ha' pouco mais de uma semana:

From: Maria Emilia Ramos
To: ANA PAULA SANTANA
Sent: Tue, 7 June, 2011 23:27:20
Subject: RE: UM APELO A JUSTICA!

Querida primota!

Eu infelizmente continuo doente, um belo dia acordei com flu ou bronquite e pioram ainda mais o meu problema das dores cronicas que obtive com as crises que tive ao longo dos anos.

[...]

Um forte e grande abraco de tirar o folego e outro beijo pra ti tbem, logo depois d te recuperas do grande e forte abraco.

Kika Maria Emilia Faria Da Silva Ramos

[She was a Real Warrior! A True Marvel of Nature! She 'Kicked Ass'!...
Mbuta Muntu will take good care of her from now on...]

*Raising Sickle Cell Anaemia Awareness


A Kika sofria de anemia de celulas falciformes. Era dessa doenca genetica (que tambem me afecta, embora de forma menos grave - enquanto a da Kika era do tipo SS, a minha e' apenas do tipo AS) que originava o problema das dores cronicas resultantes das crises que teve ao longo dos anos que ela mencionava na sua mensagem acima.
A principal razao que me leva a considera-la uma verdadeira warrior foi a forma estoica como ela sempre enfrentou a sua condicao de saude ate ao fim.
Ao amor, dedicacao e cuidados dos pais dela - que, tendo perdido o seu primeiro filho rapaz nos primeiros meses de vida devido aquela doenca, foram capazes de literalmente 'correr mundo', para tanto viajando com ela, desde que nasceu (tao pequenina, minuscula mesmo, que o primeiro nome que os pais lhe comecaram a chamar foi "Mosquit(a)o", de onde mais tarde derivaria o diminutivo "Kika"), para varios paises, em busca dos melhores especialistas e tratamentos e, se possivel, da cura definitiva (que, infelizmente, ainda nao existe) - ficou a dever-se em grande medida a sua sobrevivencia por pouco mais de quatro decadas, quando a sua expectativa de vida sempre foi tida como bastante mais reduzida.
Mas, tambem em boa parte gracas ao seu estoicismo, amor a vida e joie de vivre, a Kika conseguiu ate’ sobreviver aos seus infelizmente malogrados pais.

Ela foi-se embora nas vesperas da observacao do Dia Mundial da Anemia Falciforme, 19 de Junho, data escolhida pelas Nacoes Unidas para chamar a atencao (raise awareness) para essa doenca que, em 2008, declarou um problema de Saude Publica prioritario em varios paises, incluindo Angola.

A Kika deixou na parede do seu quarto um poster sobre as actividades do Sickle Cell Awareness Month 2011.

Em nome da familia, e especialmente da falecida Tia Celeste, gostaria de expressar aqui a profunda gratidao e apreco a todos os amigos e profissionais que acompanharam e ajudaram a minorar o sofrimento da Kika (e da sua irma mais nova, Ginga Luia, que lhe sobrevive) em varias fases da sua vida, dentre os quais destacaria, em Angola, o Dr. Bernardino.

... Foi juntar-se 'a Tia!

Deixou-me este 'ultimo adeus' ha' pouco mais de uma semana:

From: Maria Emilia Ramos
To: ANA PAULA SANTANA
Sent: Tue, 7 June, 2011 23:27:20
Subject: RE: UM APELO A JUSTICA!

Querida primota!

Eu infelizmente continuo doente, um belo dia acordei com flu ou bronquite e pioram ainda mais o meu problema das dores cronicas que obtive com as crises que tive ao longo dos anos.

[...]

Um forte e grande abraco de tirar o folego e outro beijo pra ti tbem, logo depois d te recuperas do grande e forte abraco.

Kika Maria Emilia Faria Da Silva Ramos

[She was a Real Warrior! A True Marvel of Nature! She 'Kicked Ass'!...
Mbuta Muntu will take good care of her from now on...]

*Raising Sickle Cell Anaemia Awareness


A Kika sofria de anemia de celulas falciformes. Era dessa doenca genetica (que tambem me afecta, embora de forma menos grave - enquanto a da Kika era do tipo SS, a minha e' apenas do tipo AS) que originava o problema das dores cronicas resultantes das crises que teve ao longo dos anos que ela mencionava na sua mensagem acima.
A principal razao que me leva a considera-la uma verdadeira warrior foi a forma estoica como ela sempre enfrentou a sua condicao de saude ate ao fim.
Ao amor, dedicacao e cuidados dos pais dela - que, tendo perdido o seu primeiro filho rapaz nos primeiros meses de vida devido aquela doenca, foram capazes de literalmente 'correr mundo', para tanto viajando com ela, desde que nasceu (tao pequenina, minuscula mesmo, que o primeiro nome que os pais lhe comecaram a chamar foi "Mosquit(a)o", de onde mais tarde derivaria o diminutivo "Kika"), para varios paises, em busca dos melhores especialistas e tratamentos e, se possivel, da cura definitiva (que, infelizmente, ainda nao existe) - ficou a dever-se em grande medida a sua sobrevivencia por pouco mais de quatro decadas, quando a sua expectativa de vida sempre foi tida como bastante mais reduzida.
Mas, tambem em boa parte gracas ao seu estoicismo, amor a vida e joie de vivre, a Kika conseguiu ate’ sobreviver aos seus infelizmente malogrados pais.

Ela foi-se embora nas vesperas da observacao do Dia Mundial da Anemia Falciforme, 19 de Junho, data escolhida pelas Nacoes Unidas para chamar a atencao (raise awareness) para essa doenca que, em 2008, declarou um problema de Saude Publica prioritario em varios paises, incluindo Angola.

A Kika deixou na parede do seu quarto um poster sobre as actividades do Sickle Cell Awareness Month 2011.

Em nome da familia, e especialmente da falecida Tia Celeste, gostaria de expressar aqui a profunda gratidao e apreco a todos os amigos e profissionais que acompanharam e ajudaram a minorar o sofrimento da Kika (e da sua irma mais nova, Ginga Luia, que lhe sobrevive) em varias fases da sua vida, dentre os quais destacaria, em Angola, o Dr. Bernardino.

C.W. [R]*

Aparentemente, eles (o bando)
"viram e ouviram" tudo
(a mais bela aventura
que fizemos nas barbas
- e nos olhos que nao sabiamos presentes! -
deles)
com grande sagacidade...
Excepto que tu foste o unico Homem
alguma vez visto com o meu filho ao colo
pelas ruas da cidade...

(inegaveis - execraveis! - patifes!!!)


*[First posted 28/04/10]

Aparentemente, eles (o bando)
"viram e ouviram" tudo
(a mais bela aventura
que fizemos nas barbas
- e nos olhos que nao sabiamos presentes! -
deles)
com grande sagacidade...
Excepto que tu foste o unico Homem
alguma vez visto com o meu filho ao colo
pelas ruas da cidade...

(inegaveis - execraveis! - patifes!!!)


*[First posted 28/04/10]

EDICAO ESPECIAL

recebi-as ha’ dias da Lua, de presente,
essas vozes da Bethania e da Omara


e’ assim mesmo, sem titulo,
so’ ‘edicao especial’
(em CD e DVD)


Poema LXIV - Palabras/Palavras

da Bethania fez-me lembrar do quanto tempo ha’ que nao a ouvia, desde quando comprava todos e cada um dos seus albuns e assistia a todo e cada um dos seus espectaculos no Coliseu dos Recreios, em Lisboa


da Omara lembrou-me do quanto pouco conheco a sua musica, para alem de a ter ouvido naquela famosa colectanea do Buena Vista Social Club, se nao me engano


Voce

juntaram maos e vozes para cumplicemente cantar e falar de voce, de amores e de palabras, suspiros, marambaias, paixoes, arrependimentos e mil congojas


e assim as dedico, neste ‘dia especial’, especialmente a quem mas mandou e a quem mas trouxe


Talvez

e mais a toda(o)s a(o)s outra(o)s amorada(o)s da vida


saboreiem-nas

recebi-as ha’ dias da Lua, de presente,
essas vozes da Bethania e da Omara


e’ assim mesmo, sem titulo,
so’ ‘edicao especial’
(em CD e DVD)


Poema LXIV - Palabras/Palavras

da Bethania fez-me lembrar do quanto tempo ha’ que nao a ouvia, desde quando comprava todos e cada um dos seus albuns e assistia a todo e cada um dos seus espectaculos no Coliseu dos Recreios, em Lisboa


da Omara lembrou-me do quanto pouco conheco a sua musica, para alem de a ter ouvido naquela famosa colectanea do Buena Vista Social Club, se nao me engano


Voce

juntaram maos e vozes para cumplicemente cantar e falar de voce, de amores e de palabras, suspiros, marambaias, paixoes, arrependimentos e mil congojas


e assim as dedico, neste ‘dia especial’, especialmente a quem mas mandou e a quem mas trouxe


Talvez

e mais a toda(o)s a(o)s outra(o)s amorada(o)s da vida


saboreiem-nas

HOJE E’ DIA!

DE

VESTIR

ESTA

SAITA

PORQUE

HOJE

E' SABADO!!!

DE

VESTIR

ESTA

SAITA

PORQUE

HOJE

E' SABADO!!!

SUNDAY DREADS

Natty Dread (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)





Rebel Music (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)

Am-A-Do (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)

Revolution (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)






Talking Blues (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)







Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)-(Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)

Lively Up Yourself (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)

Extracts from Alice Walker’s introduction to “Dreads” by F. Mastalia and A. Pagano (© Artisan, New York, 1999)

[Except for Redemption Song that is still here, ALL SONGS IN THIS POST CAN BE LISTENED TO HERE]

Natty Dread (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)





Rebel Music (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)

Am-A-Do (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)

Revolution (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)






Talking Blues (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)







Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)-(Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)

Lively Up Yourself (Bob Marley, The Wailers & The I-Threes)

Extracts from Alice Walker’s introduction to “Dreads” by F. Mastalia and A. Pagano (© Artisan, New York, 1999)

[Except for Redemption Song that is still here, ALL SONGS IN THIS POST CAN BE LISTENED TO HERE]

GLORY DAYS

It was a glorious sunny Sunday in London today. Absolutely wonderful!
I went up to Hampstead Heath, as I often do, and for the first time ever ventured, even if only timidly, into previously uncharted territory for me there… you can do that in days like this without any preoccupation of, say, bumping into George Michael … (just hope he wont sue me for this)…


What sets the Heath apart, not only in days like this, from Regent’s Park (the other one that shares my long walks with the Heath) and other London parks that I know, is its wilderness in most parts, the roughness of its trees… I don’t know, there’s definitely something pungent about it. As if you could just as well be in any African forest (well, in my wildest dreams anyway), with few exceptions like, of course, the Mayombe.

Basically, it’s not as landscaped and beautified as most London parks. I guess that’s it.
A place where you can really reinvigorate body, mind and soul and feel happy again. Even if you weren't unhappy before. Specially in glory days like these.

It was a glorious sunny Sunday in London today. Absolutely wonderful!
I went up to Hampstead Heath, as I often do, and for the first time ever ventured, even if only timidly, into previously uncharted territory for me there… you can do that in days like this without any preoccupation of, say, bumping into George Michael … (just hope he wont sue me for this)…


What sets the Heath apart, not only in days like this, from Regent’s Park (the other one that shares my long walks with the Heath) and other London parks that I know, is its wilderness in most parts, the roughness of its trees… I don’t know, there’s definitely something pungent about it. As if you could just as well be in any African forest (well, in my wildest dreams anyway), with few exceptions like, of course, the Mayombe.

Basically, it’s not as landscaped and beautified as most London parks. I guess that’s it.
A place where you can really reinvigorate body, mind and soul and feel happy again. Even if you weren't unhappy before. Specially in glory days like these.

TRIBUTES TO WOMEN OF SUBSTANCE: MAMPHELA RAMPHELE

Extracts from “The 6th Annual Biko Memorial Lecture” at UCT (SEP 05) and interview to The Guardian (MAR 05) by Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, Co- Chair of the Global Commission on International Migration and former Managing Director of the World Bank and UCT Vice-Chancellor.

“(…) The question facing us today is the extent to which we can demonstrate that we have indeed gone beyond the symbols of our citizenship, be they the flag, the national anthem or the values enshrined in our Constitution. Have we gone beyond singing about our beloved country to defending its values by living them out in our daily lives in the classrooms, the board rooms, the office complex, factory floor, the hospital ward, the police station, or any other space where we are active as citizens?

(…) The idea of civil service as an opportunity to serve seems to have become overshadowed by the notion of civil service as a job opportunity for the individual involved. The wisdom embedded in the idea that “In serving each other, we become free” as William Nicholson put it, is lost on the many civil servants who fail to pass the test of common courtesy to citizens who are entitled to public services. Some of the officials behave no different from their apartheid predecessors in treating their fellow citizens with disrespect. Could it be that some of our civil servants have yet to take delivery of the freedom that would have made them recognize the sacred duty of serving their fellow citizens with dignity? Could it also be that the linkage of service with subservience for the majority of poor black people in the bad apartheid years has damaged the capacity for service in some people in the civil service of the new democracy? Whatever the reason, it is not acceptable for civil servants to expect taxpayers to continue to pay them for the privilege to be insulted.

The government for its part, needs to set and enforce the parameters for accountability. Party loyalty is not a sufficient basis for appointment to public service. The appalling skills gaps in the civil service as well as the unsustainable vacancy rates reflect not only lack of skills, but the corroding impact of politicization of appointments at many levels of our civil service. There are too many skilled professionals being denied job opportunities at the various levels of government because they are outside of the party political networks that have captured civil service jobs for patronage. Comparative analyses worldwide point to the importance of limiting political appointments based on loyalty only to the top layer. Strict professional competency criteria need to be applied for the rest of the system to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. We need to strengthen professional recruitment, promotion, training and retaining of public officials at all levels of government. Mediocrity has to be rooted out and meritocracy promoted. We run a serious risk of losing even more of our brightest skilled people for greener pastures where their value is more appreciated. We stand to lose the competition for skills in today’s global knowledge economy if we do not rise to the challenge of retaining those we train at great cost.

Ramphele, who was in London recently to deliver the annual lecture for the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (Compas), talks of how much more complex migration has become. Never before, she says, has the world seen such large numbers of people living outside their country of origin - up to 200 million - with every expectation the numbers will continue to grow. Almost all countries, she says, are now touched by the phenomenon. Even Albania, which used to refuse to let anyone out, or Japan, which refused to let anyone in, have significant movements. The old distinction between countries of origin, transit and destination has become redundant. Many countries now fall into all three categories, and even the basic distinction between citizen and foreigner can no longer be applied to those with dual nationality. Still more confusing are the motives for migration, with single families having complex mixtures of economic, social, political and personal reasons for moving that could be difficult to disentangle. Just as West Africans and the people of the Sahel states and North Africa headed towards Europe, a wide band of states south of the Sahara now head towards South Africa.

For educated and ambitious young people in these sub-Saharan states, South Africa has become the most attractive nation. But the country is finding it difficult, she says, to absorb the flows, which have increased faster than the South African economy. (Although official figures show only 120,000 people applying for asylum in South Africa in the last decade, at least another million Africans - and some estimates say two million - have moved there.) "We are like a little Europe, without her resources," she says. Ramphele expresses concern at the way western governments have allowed themselves to be pushed into hardline asylum and immigration policies by the media and opposition parties. She is opposed to European proposals to set up refugee vetting camps in North Africa "in countries that are not even democratic", but she praises former home secretary David Blunkett for recognising the benefits that migrants can bring and the needs they fill, expressing hopes that other politicians will follow suit.

"We must recognise that the world's poorest countries have little real incentive to obstruct the departure of their citizens, even if they are leaving in an illegal or irregular manner," she says. "From the perspective of developing countries, migration reduces the need to create jobs for large numbers of unemployed people, especially those young people who are entering the labour market for the first time." There are, however, two important caveats to this last statement: remittance payments and the brain drain. Remittances are now providing developing states with almost twice as much as international aid - more than £75bn a year. They have played an important role in supporting families, improving lifestyles and business opportunities. The brain drain has to be tackled, Ramphele says. She rules out a ban on skilled people leaving - not least because it would be "inconsistent with my belief that migration is motivated by the very noble desire to gain a better quality of life."

Biko (Peter Gabriel/Ladysmith Black Mambazo/Geoffrey Oryema/Alex Brown/Manu Dibango)

Steve Biko, the leader of the South African Black Consciousness Movement and life partner of Mamphela Rampele, died on September 12, 1977, aged 31, after security police in Port Elizabeth beat and tortured him to death. The inquest recorded the cause of death only as brain damage. Police at the time claimed he slipped on a piece of soap while in the shower and then justice minister Jimmy Kruger famously said the death left him “cold”. About his brutal murder, former president Nelson Mandela said: “His life was extinguished with more callousness and casualness than a person snuffing out a candle flame between callused thumb and forefinger.”

While a medical student at Fort Hare University in 1967, Biko broke away from the largely white National Union of SA Students, which he said was not representative of his culture. He then formed the SA Students Organisation to lobby for black causes. In 1969 he was banned for (peaceful) political activities, including founding the Black People’s Convention which brought together various black consciousness movements to uplift areas around Durban, and founding the Black Community Programme. He was arrested on August 21, 1977 and three weeks later was dead. Biko’s concern with issues of culture, identity and the human rights of black people are expressed in his book “I Write What I Like”.

Biko's son, Nkosinathi Biko, was involved in setting up the Steve Biko Foundation and has helped establish a library and archives that collect writings by and about his father. Biko’s killers were denied amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in February 1999.

"Nkosinathi Biko: False Medical Certificate, Dr. Benjamin Tucker" (Truth Game Series, by Sue Williamson)

(READ MORE HERE)

Extracts from “The 6th Annual Biko Memorial Lecture” at UCT (SEP 05) and interview to The Guardian (MAR 05) by Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, Co- Chair of the Global Commission on International Migration and former Managing Director of the World Bank and UCT Vice-Chancellor.

“(…) The question facing us today is the extent to which we can demonstrate that we have indeed gone beyond the symbols of our citizenship, be they the flag, the national anthem or the values enshrined in our Constitution. Have we gone beyond singing about our beloved country to defending its values by living them out in our daily lives in the classrooms, the board rooms, the office complex, factory floor, the hospital ward, the police station, or any other space where we are active as citizens?

(…) The idea of civil service as an opportunity to serve seems to have become overshadowed by the notion of civil service as a job opportunity for the individual involved. The wisdom embedded in the idea that “In serving each other, we become free” as William Nicholson put it, is lost on the many civil servants who fail to pass the test of common courtesy to citizens who are entitled to public services. Some of the officials behave no different from their apartheid predecessors in treating their fellow citizens with disrespect. Could it be that some of our civil servants have yet to take delivery of the freedom that would have made them recognize the sacred duty of serving their fellow citizens with dignity? Could it also be that the linkage of service with subservience for the majority of poor black people in the bad apartheid years has damaged the capacity for service in some people in the civil service of the new democracy? Whatever the reason, it is not acceptable for civil servants to expect taxpayers to continue to pay them for the privilege to be insulted.

The government for its part, needs to set and enforce the parameters for accountability. Party loyalty is not a sufficient basis for appointment to public service. The appalling skills gaps in the civil service as well as the unsustainable vacancy rates reflect not only lack of skills, but the corroding impact of politicization of appointments at many levels of our civil service. There are too many skilled professionals being denied job opportunities at the various levels of government because they are outside of the party political networks that have captured civil service jobs for patronage. Comparative analyses worldwide point to the importance of limiting political appointments based on loyalty only to the top layer. Strict professional competency criteria need to be applied for the rest of the system to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. We need to strengthen professional recruitment, promotion, training and retaining of public officials at all levels of government. Mediocrity has to be rooted out and meritocracy promoted. We run a serious risk of losing even more of our brightest skilled people for greener pastures where their value is more appreciated. We stand to lose the competition for skills in today’s global knowledge economy if we do not rise to the challenge of retaining those we train at great cost.

Ramphele, who was in London recently to deliver the annual lecture for the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (Compas), talks of how much more complex migration has become. Never before, she says, has the world seen such large numbers of people living outside their country of origin - up to 200 million - with every expectation the numbers will continue to grow. Almost all countries, she says, are now touched by the phenomenon. Even Albania, which used to refuse to let anyone out, or Japan, which refused to let anyone in, have significant movements. The old distinction between countries of origin, transit and destination has become redundant. Many countries now fall into all three categories, and even the basic distinction between citizen and foreigner can no longer be applied to those with dual nationality. Still more confusing are the motives for migration, with single families having complex mixtures of economic, social, political and personal reasons for moving that could be difficult to disentangle. Just as West Africans and the people of the Sahel states and North Africa headed towards Europe, a wide band of states south of the Sahara now head towards South Africa.

For educated and ambitious young people in these sub-Saharan states, South Africa has become the most attractive nation. But the country is finding it difficult, she says, to absorb the flows, which have increased faster than the South African economy. (Although official figures show only 120,000 people applying for asylum in South Africa in the last decade, at least another million Africans - and some estimates say two million - have moved there.) "We are like a little Europe, without her resources," she says. Ramphele expresses concern at the way western governments have allowed themselves to be pushed into hardline asylum and immigration policies by the media and opposition parties. She is opposed to European proposals to set up refugee vetting camps in North Africa "in countries that are not even democratic", but she praises former home secretary David Blunkett for recognising the benefits that migrants can bring and the needs they fill, expressing hopes that other politicians will follow suit.

"We must recognise that the world's poorest countries have little real incentive to obstruct the departure of their citizens, even if they are leaving in an illegal or irregular manner," she says. "From the perspective of developing countries, migration reduces the need to create jobs for large numbers of unemployed people, especially those young people who are entering the labour market for the first time." There are, however, two important caveats to this last statement: remittance payments and the brain drain. Remittances are now providing developing states with almost twice as much as international aid - more than £75bn a year. They have played an important role in supporting families, improving lifestyles and business opportunities. The brain drain has to be tackled, Ramphele says. She rules out a ban on skilled people leaving - not least because it would be "inconsistent with my belief that migration is motivated by the very noble desire to gain a better quality of life."

Biko (Peter Gabriel/Ladysmith Black Mambazo/Geoffrey Oryema/Alex Brown/Manu Dibango)

Steve Biko, the leader of the South African Black Consciousness Movement and life partner of Mamphela Rampele, died on September 12, 1977, aged 31, after security police in Port Elizabeth beat and tortured him to death. The inquest recorded the cause of death only as brain damage. Police at the time claimed he slipped on a piece of soap while in the shower and then justice minister Jimmy Kruger famously said the death left him “cold”. About his brutal murder, former president Nelson Mandela said: “His life was extinguished with more callousness and casualness than a person snuffing out a candle flame between callused thumb and forefinger.”

While a medical student at Fort Hare University in 1967, Biko broke away from the largely white National Union of SA Students, which he said was not representative of his culture. He then formed the SA Students Organisation to lobby for black causes. In 1969 he was banned for (peaceful) political activities, including founding the Black People’s Convention which brought together various black consciousness movements to uplift areas around Durban, and founding the Black Community Programme. He was arrested on August 21, 1977 and three weeks later was dead. Biko’s concern with issues of culture, identity and the human rights of black people are expressed in his book “I Write What I Like”.

Biko's son, Nkosinathi Biko, was involved in setting up the Steve Biko Foundation and has helped establish a library and archives that collect writings by and about his father. Biko’s killers were denied amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in February 1999.

"Nkosinathi Biko: False Medical Certificate, Dr. Benjamin Tucker" (Truth Game Series, by Sue Williamson)

(READ MORE HERE)

MY CAMDEN

I swear to God: this is not particularly about having a go at Bono or at the Red Charity campaign or, generally, at the ever growing ‘celebrity Africa bandwagon’ I’ve been moaning about lately… (e nem sequer sobre essa coisa de "varrer o lixo para debaixo do tapete" de que falava aqui ha dias)... It’s simply, honestly, just about my Camden…
But, just to put it in context, here’s what happenned a few months ago:
As widely reported, the ‘guerrilla’ graffiti artist Banksy has spray-painted a striking, large-scale image entitled 'Sweeping It Under The Carpet' on a wall in Chalk Farm, North London. According to the Independent, the work can be "seen as a metaphor for the West’s reluctance to tackle issues such as Aids in Africa." Banksy said that the piece was also about the democratisation of subjects in works of art: "In the bad old days, it was only popes and princes who had the money to pay for their portraits to be painted. This is a portrait of a maid called Leanne who cleaned my room in a Los Angeles motel. She was quite a feisty lady."

Then, the real go was for Charlie Brooker, in the Guardian (19/05/06), to have:
“Faced with a photo of a fly-encrusted child, the natural reaction should be to reach out and help. Instead, I start hearing Bono and Coldplay in my head. It's the most mind-mangling act of branding in history. I agree with what they are saying - I just wish THEY weren't saying it. How can I open my wallet while my fists are curled with rage? Take Bono's special edition of the Independent. It's incredibly annoying. You're trapped in a windowless room with the usual tedious sods who apparently represent British culture, except suddenly they're wearing halos and pulling earnest expressions at you.
The front cover is by Damien Hirst. He's lobbed some clipart together in the shape of a cross. Across this runs a stark headline: "NO NEWS TODAY". You jerk with astonishment. No news? How can this be? Help us Bono! We don't understand! Then you spot the footnote: "Just 6,500 Africans died today as a result of a preventable, treatable disease." You nod sadly. But before you can truly contemplate this harrowing injustice, you note that Damien Hirst's name appears on the cover not once, but twice - and suddenly the footnote takes on an even more tragic dimension. Because all those people died, yet Hirst still walks the Earth. You turn the page, weeping. Inside lurk about 2,000 adverts for the new Motorola RED phone. If you buy one, an Aids charity receives an initial payment of £10, followed by 5% of all further call revenues. This is clearly a good idea. But somehow, it's also annoying. For starters, the phone costs £149, of which £139 goes toward helping Motorola. Second, it's bright red and seems doomed to appeal to arseholes who want to add conspicuous compassion to their list of needless fashion accessories. I'm not just jabbering mindlessly on the phone in your train carriage - I'm saving fuckin' lives, OK?

Page 11: a piece of artwork by renegade graffiti artist Banksy, who has defaced a wall in Chalk Farm with a picture of a hotel maid. It's called Sweeping It Under the Carpet and "can be seen as a metaphor for the west's reluctance to tackle issues such as Aids in Africa" - or another example of Banksy's tireless self-promotion; take your pick. Banksy says the maid in question "cleaned my room in a Los Angeles motel ... she was quite a feisty lady". Presumably his next portrait will depict some poor minimum-wage sod, cleaning graffiti off a wall in Chalk Farm. Provided they're "feisty" enough to appeal to him.
On it goes, with one Bonoriffic chum after another: noted philanthropist Condoleezza Rice picks her top 10 tunes (including one by U2); Stella McCartney interviews Giorgio Armani, who has designed a pair of sunglasses for the RED charity range. These cost around £72 and will make you look like Bono: buy a 10 quid pair from Boots, bung the remaining £62 to an Aids charity and not only will you enjoy a warm philanthropic glow, no one's going to shout "wanker!" at you when you walk down the high street.
In summary: it's a worthy cause, rendered annoying - and that's annoying in itself. Bono genuinely cares, cares enough to risk ridicule, which is more than most people would do, myself included. It's just that, well it's bloody Bono, isn't it?”

Well… what can I say? Apart from the fact that I really enjoyed all the fuss made about it in the papers, not just the Indy’s and Guardian’s but our own Camden New Journal and Camden Gazzette, that is. I'm just a legal alien in London who happens to love her Camden - the Market, the Lock, the Canal, the Jazz Cafe', Primrose Hill, Belzise Park, the Northern Line, the Zoo, the parts of Regent's Park, Bloomsbury, Finchley Road, Tottenham Court Road, Marylebone, St. John's Wood and Swiss Cottage that are rightfully ours (and don't you ever, ever dare to call us "imperialists"... after all, this is where "Red Ken" got most of the votes that put him where he is!), Hampstead Heat, Highgate Village, the Royal Free, Kentish Town, King's Cross, Euston, Chalk Farm, the brand new Roundhouse and Banksy’s maid included... And... yes, the graffitti is still there 9 months on... from time to time someone 'graffittis' upon it, but someone else, maybe some poor minimum-wage sod (or Banksy himself; take your pick), cleans it off... Cheers!

Photos: my own.

I swear to God: this is not particularly about having a go at Bono or at the Red Charity campaign or, generally, at the ever growing ‘celebrity Africa bandwagon’ I’ve been moaning about lately… (e nem sequer sobre essa coisa de "varrer o lixo para debaixo do tapete" de que falava aqui ha dias)... It’s simply, honestly, just about my Camden…
But, just to put it in context, here’s what happenned a few months ago:
As widely reported, the ‘guerrilla’ graffiti artist Banksy has spray-painted a striking, large-scale image entitled 'Sweeping It Under The Carpet' on a wall in Chalk Farm, North London. According to the Independent, the work can be "seen as a metaphor for the West’s reluctance to tackle issues such as Aids in Africa." Banksy said that the piece was also about the democratisation of subjects in works of art: "In the bad old days, it was only popes and princes who had the money to pay for their portraits to be painted. This is a portrait of a maid called Leanne who cleaned my room in a Los Angeles motel. She was quite a feisty lady."

Then, the real go was for Charlie Brooker, in the Guardian (19/05/06), to have:
“Faced with a photo of a fly-encrusted child, the natural reaction should be to reach out and help. Instead, I start hearing Bono and Coldplay in my head. It's the most mind-mangling act of branding in history. I agree with what they are saying - I just wish THEY weren't saying it. How can I open my wallet while my fists are curled with rage? Take Bono's special edition of the Independent. It's incredibly annoying. You're trapped in a windowless room with the usual tedious sods who apparently represent British culture, except suddenly they're wearing halos and pulling earnest expressions at you.
The front cover is by Damien Hirst. He's lobbed some clipart together in the shape of a cross. Across this runs a stark headline: "NO NEWS TODAY". You jerk with astonishment. No news? How can this be? Help us Bono! We don't understand! Then you spot the footnote: "Just 6,500 Africans died today as a result of a preventable, treatable disease." You nod sadly. But before you can truly contemplate this harrowing injustice, you note that Damien Hirst's name appears on the cover not once, but twice - and suddenly the footnote takes on an even more tragic dimension. Because all those people died, yet Hirst still walks the Earth. You turn the page, weeping. Inside lurk about 2,000 adverts for the new Motorola RED phone. If you buy one, an Aids charity receives an initial payment of £10, followed by 5% of all further call revenues. This is clearly a good idea. But somehow, it's also annoying. For starters, the phone costs £149, of which £139 goes toward helping Motorola. Second, it's bright red and seems doomed to appeal to arseholes who want to add conspicuous compassion to their list of needless fashion accessories. I'm not just jabbering mindlessly on the phone in your train carriage - I'm saving fuckin' lives, OK?

Page 11: a piece of artwork by renegade graffiti artist Banksy, who has defaced a wall in Chalk Farm with a picture of a hotel maid. It's called Sweeping It Under the Carpet and "can be seen as a metaphor for the west's reluctance to tackle issues such as Aids in Africa" - or another example of Banksy's tireless self-promotion; take your pick. Banksy says the maid in question "cleaned my room in a Los Angeles motel ... she was quite a feisty lady". Presumably his next portrait will depict some poor minimum-wage sod, cleaning graffiti off a wall in Chalk Farm. Provided they're "feisty" enough to appeal to him.
On it goes, with one Bonoriffic chum after another: noted philanthropist Condoleezza Rice picks her top 10 tunes (including one by U2); Stella McCartney interviews Giorgio Armani, who has designed a pair of sunglasses for the RED charity range. These cost around £72 and will make you look like Bono: buy a 10 quid pair from Boots, bung the remaining £62 to an Aids charity and not only will you enjoy a warm philanthropic glow, no one's going to shout "wanker!" at you when you walk down the high street.
In summary: it's a worthy cause, rendered annoying - and that's annoying in itself. Bono genuinely cares, cares enough to risk ridicule, which is more than most people would do, myself included. It's just that, well it's bloody Bono, isn't it?”

Well… what can I say? Apart from the fact that I really enjoyed all the fuss made about it in the papers, not just the Indy’s and Guardian’s but our own Camden New Journal and Camden Gazzette, that is. I'm just a legal alien in London who happens to love her Camden - the Market, the Lock, the Canal, the Jazz Cafe', Primrose Hill, Belzise Park, the Northern Line, the Zoo, the parts of Regent's Park, Bloomsbury, Finchley Road, Tottenham Court Road, Marylebone, St. John's Wood and Swiss Cottage that are rightfully ours (and don't you ever, ever dare to call us "imperialists"... after all, this is where "Red Ken" got most of the votes that put him where he is!), Hampstead Heat, Highgate Village, the Royal Free, Kentish Town, King's Cross, Euston, Chalk Farm, the brand new Roundhouse and Banksy’s maid included... And... yes, the graffitti is still there 9 months on... from time to time someone 'graffittis' upon it, but someone else, maybe some poor minimum-wage sod (or Banksy himself; take your pick), cleans it off... Cheers!

Photos: my own.

NOT EVEN DEATH DID THEM PART

It could be humanity's oldest story of doomed love. Archaeologists have unearthed two skeletons from the Neolithic period locked in a tender embrace and buried outside Mantua, just 25 miles south of Verona, the romantic city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale of "Romeo and Juliet."
Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.
"As far as we know, it's unique," said Menotti. "Double burials from the Neolithic are unheard of, and these are even hugging." Source: AP

It could be humanity's oldest story of doomed love. Archaeologists have unearthed two skeletons from the Neolithic period locked in a tender embrace and buried outside Mantua, just 25 miles south of Verona, the romantic city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale of "Romeo and Juliet."
Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.
"As far as we know, it's unique," said Menotti. "Double burials from the Neolithic are unheard of, and these are even hugging." Source: AP

ADELAIDE TAMBO (R.I.P.)

Adelaide Frances (Tshukudu) Tambo, affectionately known as Ma- Tambo, wife of the late ANC leader Oliver Tambo, who passed away on the last day of January this year, aged 77, was laid to rest today in Johannesburg. In attendance to the funeral were Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, among other South African dignitaries, African leaders, diplomats, family members and thousands of ANC members.

Mr Mandela, who shared her birthday, said he mourned the "passing away of a close personal friend, a comrade and one of the great heroines of our nation. She was a mother to the liberation movement in exile, and a nationally revered figure in our new nation. We pay tribute to a life dedicated to freedom and service." President Mbeki affirmed that Ms Tambo's death "amounts to a loss to the entire country and the international community. We are mourning the early and untimely death of Ma-Tambo. She was a commanding general whose instinct told her to be nothing more than a foot soldier." Her son, one of her three surviving children, media personality Dali Tambo, said his mother was part of a generation of women who "endured so much, regretted so little. I am a fortunate son. I can take comfort on the shoulder of a nation in mourning."

BIOGRAPHY

Adelaide Tambo’s political life started at the age of 10 after a raid by the police, following a riot in Top Location, Vereeniging. A police officer had been killed, and Adelaide's ailing grandfather, aged 82, was among those who were arrested and taken to the town square. There the old man collapsed and Adelaide had to sit with him until he regained consciousness. The way the young policemen pushed him around and called him 'boy' made her swear to fight them till the end. This was in 1939 and at the time she was a primary school pupil at St Thomas Practicing School in Johannesburg. In 1944, she started working for the ANC as a courier, while studying at Orlando High. She had joined the school's debating society and it was during this time that Dr Malan was entrenching apartheid, which became a heated matter for most of the students.

At 18, Adelaide joined the ANC Youth League and was elected chairperson of the George Goch branch and one of her duties was to open branches of the Youth League in the Transvaal. Later, as a student nurse at Pretoria General Hospital, she met Oliver Tambo at a meeting of the Eastern township branch of the ANC and the two were married in December 1956. Their wedding was a true "struggle" event - three weeks before it took place, Oliver Tambo had been arrested and charged with high treason, along with 155 other ANC members, including the partner in his law firm, Nelson Mandela, in what became known as the ‘Treason Trial’. The wedding went ahead four days after the suspects were released on bail. But, on the way to the church, the bride, groom and best man were briefly arrested for violating the pass laws, and bundled into a police van. There was no honeymoon. After the wedding, it was back to court. The trial lasted for more than three years, ending in the acquittal of all the accused.

Following the massacre of Sharpeville in 1960, the anti-apartheid struggle led by the then banned ANC and SACP intensified, leading to the internationally known ‘Rivonia Trial’ of 1963-64, in which Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and others were sentenced to life imprisonment, having faced the possibility of the death sentence. Oliver and Adelaide Tambo were asked by the ANC to leave the country in 1960 and to carry on the work of the organisation outside South Africa once they were settled. Adelaide resumed her work as a courier - this time for her husband. Based in London until the unbanning of all political parties, Adelaide became a founder member of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Movement and the Pan-African Women's Organisation (PAWO). She also assisted in identifying and financially assisting some of the families whose children left South Africa after the 1976 uprisings. The couple returned to South Africa in 1990 but Oliver died of a stroke in 1993 - a year before the country's first all-race democratic elections. She represented the ANC in parliament. Besides her work as the national Treasurer of the ANC Women’s League, Adelaide also occupied herself with work for people in old age homes. She had recently launched the Adelaide Tambo Trust for the Elderly.

In 2002, Adelaide Tambo received South Africa's top decoration - the Order of the Baobab in Gold - and was present at a ceremony last October to rename Johannesburg airport the O.R. Tambo International Airport, in honour of her late husband. In the 1990s, the Anglican Church in South Africa appointed her to the Order of Simon of Cyrene, the highest honour it can bestow on a lay person.


(Sources: various)

Adelaide Frances (Tshukudu) Tambo, affectionately known as Ma- Tambo, wife of the late ANC leader Oliver Tambo, who passed away on the last day of January this year, aged 77, was laid to rest today in Johannesburg. In attendance to the funeral were Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, among other South African dignitaries, African leaders, diplomats, family members and thousands of ANC members.

Mr Mandela, who shared her birthday, said he mourned the "passing away of a close personal friend, a comrade and one of the great heroines of our nation. She was a mother to the liberation movement in exile, and a nationally revered figure in our new nation. We pay tribute to a life dedicated to freedom and service." President Mbeki affirmed that Ms Tambo's death "amounts to a loss to the entire country and the international community. We are mourning the early and untimely death of Ma-Tambo. She was a commanding general whose instinct told her to be nothing more than a foot soldier." Her son, one of her three surviving children, media personality Dali Tambo, said his mother was part of a generation of women who "endured so much, regretted so little. I am a fortunate son. I can take comfort on the shoulder of a nation in mourning."

BIOGRAPHY

Adelaide Tambo’s political life started at the age of 10 after a raid by the police, following a riot in Top Location, Vereeniging. A police officer had been killed, and Adelaide's ailing grandfather, aged 82, was among those who were arrested and taken to the town square. There the old man collapsed and Adelaide had to sit with him until he regained consciousness. The way the young policemen pushed him around and called him 'boy' made her swear to fight them till the end. This was in 1939 and at the time she was a primary school pupil at St Thomas Practicing School in Johannesburg. In 1944, she started working for the ANC as a courier, while studying at Orlando High. She had joined the school's debating society and it was during this time that Dr Malan was entrenching apartheid, which became a heated matter for most of the students.

At 18, Adelaide joined the ANC Youth League and was elected chairperson of the George Goch branch and one of her duties was to open branches of the Youth League in the Transvaal. Later, as a student nurse at Pretoria General Hospital, she met Oliver Tambo at a meeting of the Eastern township branch of the ANC and the two were married in December 1956. Their wedding was a true "struggle" event - three weeks before it took place, Oliver Tambo had been arrested and charged with high treason, along with 155 other ANC members, including the partner in his law firm, Nelson Mandela, in what became known as the ‘Treason Trial’. The wedding went ahead four days after the suspects were released on bail. But, on the way to the church, the bride, groom and best man were briefly arrested for violating the pass laws, and bundled into a police van. There was no honeymoon. After the wedding, it was back to court. The trial lasted for more than three years, ending in the acquittal of all the accused.

Following the massacre of Sharpeville in 1960, the anti-apartheid struggle led by the then banned ANC and SACP intensified, leading to the internationally known ‘Rivonia Trial’ of 1963-64, in which Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and others were sentenced to life imprisonment, having faced the possibility of the death sentence. Oliver and Adelaide Tambo were asked by the ANC to leave the country in 1960 and to carry on the work of the organisation outside South Africa once they were settled. Adelaide resumed her work as a courier - this time for her husband. Based in London until the unbanning of all political parties, Adelaide became a founder member of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Movement and the Pan-African Women's Organisation (PAWO). She also assisted in identifying and financially assisting some of the families whose children left South Africa after the 1976 uprisings. The couple returned to South Africa in 1990 but Oliver died of a stroke in 1993 - a year before the country's first all-race democratic elections. She represented the ANC in parliament. Besides her work as the national Treasurer of the ANC Women’s League, Adelaide also occupied herself with work for people in old age homes. She had recently launched the Adelaide Tambo Trust for the Elderly.

In 2002, Adelaide Tambo received South Africa's top decoration - the Order of the Baobab in Gold - and was present at a ceremony last October to rename Johannesburg airport the O.R. Tambo International Airport, in honour of her late husband. In the 1990s, the Anglican Church in South Africa appointed her to the Order of Simon of Cyrene, the highest honour it can bestow on a lay person.


(Sources: various)